'Canadian' is the new N-word.

The National Post ^ | January 24, 2008 | Graeme Hamilton

[49th]

It was a routine e-mail from the boss sent to congratulate a junior prosecutor in Houston, Tex., who had won manslaughter convictions against an intoxicated driver.

"He convicted Mr. Sosa of a double intoxication manslaughter, got a weak jury to give him 12 years in each, and then convinced Judge Wallace to stack the sentences," Harris County assistant district attorney Mike Trent wrote in an office-wide memo. Then came the odd part: "He overcame a subversively good defence by Matt Hennessey that had some Canadians on the jury feeling sorry for the defendant and forced them to do the right thing."

The e-mail was sent in 2003 but came to light only this month as part of an unrelated controversy with his office, forcing Mr. Trent to defend himself against accusations of bigotry -- not because he offended the people of Canada, but because "Canadian" has apparently become a code word for blacks among American racists.

[...]

The bigger mystery is how "Canadian" came to be code for black. An online directory of racial slurs defines Canadian as a "masked replacement" for black.

Last August, a blogger in Cincinnati going by the name CincyBlurg reported that a black friend from the southeastern U.S. had recently discovered that she was being called a Canadian. "She overheard some of her customers complaining that they were always waited on by a Canadian at that place. She didn't understand what they were talking about and assumed they must be talking about someone else

"After this happened several times with different patrons, she mentioned it to one of her co-workers. He told her that ‘Canadian' was the new derogatory term that racist Southerners were using to describe persons they would have previously referred to [with the N-word.]"

[Phantom Lord]

Can I still call my Canadian friends (and enemies) Canucks? Or do I now need to find a new term to call them?

[PBRSTREETGANG]

“Canadian” is far too offensive.

Please say “The C-word” from now on.

(Oh, wait a minute...)

[luckymom]

This could get interesting for those of us who live near the US-Canada border...!

[SnakeDoctor]

I always used “Canadian” as a derogatory epithet against ... Canadians.

H

[Hegemony Cricket]

“I’m not Canadian - heck, I’ve never even been to Canadia!”

[Old Sarge]

“Canadian”?!?

I thought it was “Conserva -”...

Wait, hold it, I apologize, I never meant to - NO, NOT REHAB!!!

[wbill]

"Eeeny Meeny Miney Mo. Catch a Canadian by the toe."

Nope, doesn't work.

Who the heck thinks up this asinine stuff? At this rate, we'll not be able to say anything, to anyone, ever.

OR, maybe that's that doubleplusgood goal.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Who you callin' a Canadian, mofo? I oughta sic my Pit on ya' and bust a cap in yo' a$$"

[Ditto]

This is a new one on me too. Now we have two 'C' words. ;~))

What else was new to me in the article is this.

Mr. Trent told Fox News that was not out of the question. "It would not be impossible or unusual for people from other countries to be on our juries," he said.

Since when can non-citizens serve on juries?

[bruinbirdman]

Some of my best friends are Canadians.

yitbos

[GOPyouth]

This has been around in the restaurant business for years. It’s hard to stop, being that it would be hard to justify firing someone for saying “canadian” at work.

[ElkGroveDan]

That is just weird.

[ROP_RIP]

This term has been used for years. Why? If you explicitly mention a black person’s race, you’ll get hassled by the PC libs or beaten up by offended blacks. But nobody cares what you say about Canadians.

I haven’t heard it used as a slur. It’s just a codeword.

[GOPyouth]

Those Canadians are so well spoken...and clean.

[TOWER]

I don’t know if it is universal, but many of my friends who are (or have been) waiters or waitresses use this code word while working. For some reason black people don’t tip well, but it’s not PC for the staff to complain about it. So instead of saying “tonight, none of my black customers left a tip” they would say “tonight, none of my canadian customers left a tip.”

The sad thing is, even the black waiters and waitresses call the black patrons canadians.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Back in the 1980’s, one of the hot night spots in So Cal was a chain of Red Onion restaurants. There was a series of news articles alleging that their bouncers were discriminating against black patrons. The code word they supposedly used to keep the ethnic mix pure was “Norwegians” as in “there’s too many Norwegians tonight.”

[Tex Pete]

I have heard it used the same way. Just so someone doesn’t draw public attention by obviously mentioning race. I have never heard it used as a slur.

[GOPyouth]

The sad thing is, even the black waiters and waitresses call the black patrons canadians

This is VERY true.

[bigjoesaddle]

LOL!